Vetra (My Norwegian Winter) Ragnhild Hemsing

• Traditional: Nu Rinder Solen Op Af Østerlide:
• 1Traditional: Nu Rinder Solen Op Af Østerlide06:03
• Vetrahalling:
• 2Traditional: Vetrahalling02:49
• Langeberglåtten:
• 3Traditional: Langeberglåtten03:48
• Jeg Vet Et Evigt Himmelrig:
• 4Traditional: Jeg Vet Et Evigt Himmelrig04:51
• Vinterstemning:
• 5Traditional: Vinterstemning04:17
• Det Ottande Bud På Sinai (Eg Kan Så Mangen Ein Vakker Sang):
• 6Traditional: Det Ottande Bud På Sinai (Eg Kan Så Mangen Ein Vakker Sang)04:10
• I Oletjedn, I Olekinn:
• 7Traditional: I Oletjedn, I Olekinn03:59
• Jesus Kristus Er Oppfaren:
• 8Traditional: Jesus Kristus Er Oppfaren 02:30
• Ringjetøsja:
• 9Traditional: Ringjetøsja  02:02
• Se Solens Skjønne Lys Og Prakt:
• 10Traditional: Se Solens Skjønne Lys Og Prakt03:06
• Prim I Dullare:
• 11Traditional: Prim I Dullare02:31
• Et Barn Er Født I Betlehem:
• 12Traditional: Et Barn Er Født I Betlehem04:44
• Kome Nord!:
• 13Traditional: Kome Nord!01:37
• Mitt Hjerte Alltid Vanker:
• 14Traditional: Mitt Hjerte Alltid Vanker04:14
• Total Runtime50:41

Info for Vetra (My Norwegian Winter)

Traditional winter atmosphere: Norwegian violinist Ragnhild Hemsing has always incorporated old, Norwegian traditions on her three albums for Berlin Classics so far. This is mainly because she not only plays the modern violin, but also the traditional Hardanger fiddle. Already on her first album "Røta" (in German roots) she played chamber music with the Hardanger. The album was awarded the OPUS Klassik. On the album "Peer Gynt" she played a very original version of Grieg's drama music together with the Trondheim Soloists. And on her last album she presented violin concertos as well as Hardanger concertos together with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Ragnhild Hemsing is thus not only an interpreter and representative of Norwegian musical tradition, but also preserves it and leads it into the modern age. In keeping with the pre-Christmas season, she dives deep into the musical tradition of her home region of Valdres on her new album "Vetra". Winter is the central theme in all her works. The word "Vetra" comes from the dialect spoken in Valdes and means winter. In addition, she has gathered a group of outstanding musicians around her, all of whom are also very familiar with Norwegian musical history.

Some folk melodies are old, very old indeed. In the past, melodies and especially church songs were only ever passed on from mouth to mouth. Much was lost, some was changed again and again. The Norwegian folk song tradition has a very long history and much has been preserved and handed down to this day. This is mainly thanks to the composer and scientist Ludvig Mathias Lindeman. He lived in Norway from 1812 to 1887 and travelled the various valleys and regions - always in search of myths and legends, melodies and verses. He published a twelve-volume collection of folk songs under the title "Ældre og nyere norske Fjeldmelodier". In 1884 Lindeman also came to the Valdres region and recorded 86 church songs and 83 other melodies there. In Norway, these folk melodies, songs and dances are called "Slåtter". It is above all the traditions of her homeland that Ragnhild Hemsing has drawn on for her album "Vetra".

For her album, Ragnhild Hemsing first recorded five traditional "slåtter" and orientated herself on Lindeman's recordings. In these works, not only the Hardanger fiddle plays a major role, but also the instrument "Langeleik", a kind of zither. This is masterfully played by Ole and Knut Aastad Bråten. Ranghild Hemsing even goes one step further and improvises her own ideas on it. This ability makes her an outstanding exception among modern violinists and interpreters. The Slåtter mainly deal with old myths and legends. In "Langeberglätten", for example, the mythical creature "Huldra" plays a role again. She usually appears as a woman with a cow's tail and was already taken up on their last album in a composition by Sigurd Lie.

In addition, there are seven selected folk melodies that have their origin in church songs. Especially with church songs, the tradition is not always clear. Usually only the sung text was written down, but not the melody. As a result, very different ways of playing the same text often developed. Thanks to Ludvig M. Lindeman, many tunes were finally written down and recorded. On his journey, for example, he heard and wrote down the melody to "The Eighth Commandment from Sinai" (Det ottande bud på Sinai), played by the fiddler Anders Nilsen Pelesteinsbakken from Hedalen, the great-great-great grandfather of Ragnhild Hemsing. An exciting development on the side: later Edvard Grieg borrowed this melody and used it in his Ballade in G minor, op. 24, and the composer Sigurd Islandsmoen, also born in Valdres, used it in his choral work Requiem, op. 42. Journalist and specialist in Norwegian folk traditions Kjell Bitustøyl describes in detail in the booklet how important Lindeman's work was. Only in this way could many traditions be preserved and further developed.

This is exactly why Ragnhild Hemsing has also composed two new slåtter and recorded them for the album "Vetra": "Vetrahalling" and "Vinterstemning". She thus joins a large group of musicians and composers who are breaking new ground and opening up new horizons. "For me, this has been an exciting musical journey in which the melodies have been artistically reworked. This reworking of our priceless heritage is a completely new endeavour," she writes in the album's enclosed booklet.

Ragnhild Hemsing, violin, Hardanger fiddle
Mathias Eick, trumpet
Terje Isungset, drums
Ole Aastad Braten, langeleik
Knut Aastad Braten, langeleik
Frida Fredrikke Waaler Waervagen, cello
Nikolai Matthews, double bass

Ragnhild Hemsing
Since her childhood, violinist and Hardanger fiddler Ragnhild Hemsing has been deeply connected to the rich folk tradition of her home country Norway. As a result, she is uniquely able to successfully combine the typical elements of Norwegian folk music and classical music in a youthful, fresh and completely new way.

Born in Valdres in 1988, Ragnhild Hemsing began playing the violin at the age of five and the traditional Hardanger fiddle shortly afterwards. Later she studied at the Barratt Due Music Institute in Oslo and with Professor Boris Kuschnir in Vienna. At only 14 years old, Ragnhild made her debut with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, playing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. Since then, she has built an international career and brought the Hardanger fiddle to prominence outside Norway.

Ragnhild Hemsing's extensive repertoire of classical solo works for violin and lesser-known, complex works for the fiddle make her one of the most versatile musicians of our time.

In the 2023/2024 season, Ragnhild Hemsing will perform a wide range of programmes throughout Europe.

In October 2023, together with the Philharmonic Orchestra Regensburg, she will perform Concerto for Hardanger Fiddle and Orchestra No. 2 by Tveitt from her current album BRUCH + TVEITT at the Regensburg Theatre.

In addition, her concerts will take Hemsing to Katowice in Poland, where she will perform Grieg's Peer Gynt with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. She will also perform Glass' Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in the Grieghallen in Bergen.

Another highlight will be Hemsing's debut with the Brighton Philharmonic under the baton of young conductor Adam Hickoxim at the Brighton Dome in April 2024.

A tour with Trondheim Soloists will take the artist to Germany again with concerts in Munich and Fürth, among others. Together with the Württembergisches Orchester Reutlingen, Ragnhild Hemsing will be heard in Reutlingen and at the Gezeitenkonzerte in East Frisia.

In the field of chamber music, Ragnhild Hemsing will be heard in Germany with long-standing partners such as the cellist Benedict Klöckner and Bjarke Mogensen.

Last season Hemsing made her debut at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the MDR-Musiksommer, the Kölner Philharmonie, the Musée d'Orsay and the Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal, among others, where she opened the season. On a tour of Germany with the Trondheim Soloists, she captivated audiences with Grieg's Peer Gynt Suites. Hemsing also returned to the USA and accepted the invitation from the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival.

She performed chamber music and solo with orchestra at the renowned Weilburger Schlosskonzerte and followed (re)invitations from the Nürnberg Symphoniker, the German Baroque Orchestra L'arte del Mondo, the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK), the Trondheim Soloists, the Kristiansand Orchestra and the Barokkanerne (Norwegian Baroque Ensemble).

Important debuts in recent years include concerts with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, the MRD Symphony Orchestra (under Kristjan Järvi), the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra Freiburg, the Residence Orchestra The Hague, the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra (under Santtu-Matias Rouvali), the Belgian National Orchestra, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, as well as appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Tonhalle Zürich, the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Risør Chamber Music Festival and the Schwetzingen SWR Festival and the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Concert Hall.

Her album Røta (= roots) with works by classical Norwegian composers and traditional folk music for violin and Hardanger fiddle received excellent reviews. "Almost too good to be true" is the verdict of journalist Stephan Bartels, and Alain Steffen writes in pizzicato: "Ragnhild Hemsing plays all the pieces with much love and care, technically flawless, but always in the spirit of traditional Norwegian music. The purity of the music and the meditative power, the richness of colour and the sparse but warm soul images set in as if by themselves, offering the listener an intense and truly beautiful listening experience [...]." Spring 2022 saw the release of her latest album, featuring Edvard Grieg's famous Peer Gynt Suite with the Trondheim Soloists. The newly commissioned arrangement for violin and Hardanger fiddle by Tormod Tvete Vik premiered at the Bergen International Festival in May 2021 and was euphorically received by audiences and the press. On the digital platforms Spotify and Apple Music, the album turned out to be a great success with high streaming numbers.

In early 2023, Hemsing released her album BRUCH + TVEITT on the Berlin Classics label, for which she recorded Bruch's Violin Concerto and Tveitt's Concerto for Orchestra and Hardanger Fiddle No. 2 together with Bergen Philharmonic.

In November 2023, Hemsing's fans can look forward to another album, which will again be released on the Berlin Classics label. The album VETRA will deal with compiled, as yet unknown and rarely played melodies and works from her homeland Valdres collected by Ludvig Mathias Lindeman in the 1800s, and will let this cultural heritage be heard in a modern way.

Her recording of Halvorsen's Fossegrimen op. 21 with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Neeme Järvi (Chandos label) received great acclaim from the international press. Since this recording, the two have enjoyed a close working relationship. Among other things, Neeme Järvi invited the young artist to make her debut with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in February 2012. Ragnhild Hemsing's albums Northern Timbre (label: 2L) and YR with Tor Espen Aspaas also met with a very positive response from the press and the public.

The duo's latest CD, Beethoven's Testaments (2L), received rave reviews. "Although Beethoven can be played in many ways, I simply have to say that this is exactly the way Beethoven should be played," wrote Magnus Andersson on musikkritikk.no.

In October 2021, Ragnhild Hemsing received the prestigious Opus Classic Prize in the category Classical Music without Borders for her album Røta and also performed at the Gala of the Prize Winners on 10.10.2021 at the Konzerthaus Berlin, which was broadcast live on ZDF television.

After her successful debut at the Beethovenfest Bonn in 2013, Ragnhild Hemsing received the Beethoven Ring, which is awarded annually to a Beethovenfest artist by the association "Citizens for Beethoven". In 2018, she was appointed by the Art Council as a member of the expert group for "touring activities". Since 2021, she has been an advisor to the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Program for Culture.

In 2013, Ragnhild Hemsing founded the "Hemsing Festival" with her sister Eldbjørg Hemsing, which the two have been running together ever since. The chamber music festival takes place every year in February in their hometown Aurdal/Valdres. In 2021 the festival will be made up in October after being cancelled in February.

Ragnhild Hemsing plays on a violin built by Francesco Ruggeri (Cremona, 1694) and a Hardanger fiddle previously played by the violinist and composer Ole Bull (1810-1880), dubbed the "Paganini of the North", both generously loaned by the Dextra Musica Foundation.

This album contains no booklet.